Awesome, thanks! My brother was hired for a technology position in Spain a decade ago. He says the interview questions were something along the lines of "Can you teach Word? (Yes) Excel? (Yes) Databases? (Yes...a stretch, but yes) You're hired!"

In reality they really wanted his wife to teach there and anything additional that he could offer was a plus. From his perspective the persons doing the hiring care more about how fun the people are that they will be stuck with for the next 2 years than how well they teach any given subject. Anyone else have similar stories or thoughts? Could this be true?

A friend of mine was hired to work in Indonesia a few years ago and says his interview was really just a long discussion about his golf game. (I guess the director needed a 4th for his weekly golf group!) I doubt this is common practice, but it's been a long time since I've interviewed for a job, and my last job interview was really informal so my question is....What should I expect in an international school interview at a job fair? Are they usually informal, formal, or all over the map?

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the insights!

Roberto - Those are the kind of variables I was hoping to hear about! Nice to know tier 1 schools aren't everyone's goal, and I'm starting to think they might be a little too pretentious for my liking as well.

Psyguy - Thanks for following up.

So, do you guys have a system for narrowing down these areas and schools? For example, to get started I've been using the COIS directory here:
[url]http://portal.cois.org/WCM/CIS/Director ... hools.aspx?[/url]
to look at schools in countries I think I would like. I also started a spreadsheet to keep track the schools I that stand out, along with anything significant learned by looking at the locations in Google Earth and Wikipedia. It's a slow process, and far from perfect, but it forces me to take a closer look at school than I would otherwise. (I should have a lot more info once my Search Associates application is complete, and I joined TIE too.)

Overall, I am amazed how many schools don't get anything unique about their culture or environment across in their website. (It's probably what recruiters experience looking at thousands of resumes, come to think of it!)

How did the rest of you narrow down your searches when you first got started? How much was word of mouth or connections? Did you go to a hiring fair completely open-minded or did you have an objective? How would you do things different as a first-time applicant?

Thanks again!

Thanks CaliPro - Can you expand on this? Would you take a lesser paying or lower tier job to be in a better culture? Have you had experience with this, and if so, how has that changed your approach to job searching? Do you have strict criteria for schools / regions, or trust your instinct to some degree?

How about you WeDoDude?

I appreciate any tips you guys might have to offer...

Geez - Thanks for the confidence boost....everyone has to start somewhere, eh?

I'm not trying to grab anyone's job, in fact I really don't care about school names. (I trust my hired associate and the interview / job fair process tell me where I fit best.) What I really want to hear is how anyone / everyone picks their top choices. For example, it looks like you value being in major metropolitan areas. Is this because of the atmosphere / recreation / travel opportunities of those cities, or some combination of those qualities? Or is school quality / atmosphere / pay more important, and can only be found in BIG international cities? In other words, HOW did you come up with your list, and what are the qualities did you look for in the jobs / schools / locations? I'm sure everyone goes about this process differently, and this forum is the best place I have to learn from others who have some experience.

So, to clarify, HOW did you come up with your list of top schools, not what is your top ten list?

Cheers.

I'm trying to narrow down the places and / or types of schools where I would like to work and, without any prior international experience, it's honestly overwhelming.

To those of you who have worked at an international school: What's your dream job, and why? I'd love to hear from you about anything (academic environment, quality of life, community, recreation, pay etc.) that makes a school or place appealing.

Thanks in advance!

Thanks Psyguy! A few more questions and some background based on your response.

First, I live in Alaska, so attending fairs is going to be a one-time thing due to time and money limitations. If I hope to end up in Europe, is it critical to attend the COIS fair? Do COIS schools ever interview via skype, for example? It seems I have to target either COIS/Search in London, or ISS & Search in San Fran. San Fran is way more affordable and would give us time to see if my wife gets sabbatical leave too. I might also be able to combine the Search fair in Cambridge with ISS in San Fran, but it would be a little more complicated / expensive that way. Any thoughts?

Next, my wife actually has a Masters in Library Science, and she'd rather work in something closer to a teaching role than anything in IT. Is there a best way to sell this to schools without her having an actual teaching certification?

Finally, given the info on my background (Spec Ed) does DoDDS sound like a realistic possibility for us?

Thanks again for the help.

Hello - I've decided I'd like to teach in a foreign country next year (2013-14) and am starting to get overwhelmed by the different paths to take. Here are some of the questions I have already.

Recruiting Agencies - So far I see that Search Associates (SA) and International School Services (ISS) are the big two, but I have also seen that University of Northern Iowa (UNI) and the Council of International Schools (COIS) are active too. Is there a reason to go with one over another if I am flexible in where I want to end up? Are there benefits to using all four? Drawbacks? Are there others I am missing? Is it effective to contact schools directly prior to the hiring fairs?

Citizenship - I am a US citizen in the process of attaining Irish citizenship, and later an Irish passport. Will this dual citizenship open significantly more doors for me in the EU? If so, what countries might it be most helpful in?

Spouse - My wife will hopefully be on sabbatical for the first year and working on her thesis. She's currently an Associate Professor of Information Systems at the university level. She would not be able to work full-time while there, but is very interested in volunteering at any school I might get hired at. Is this helpful / possible?

About Me - I am a middle school special education teacher with a Master of Arts Teaching and 5 years experience teaching students with emotional and behavior disorders. I'm currently certified to teach English in grades 6-12, Special Education K-12, and am also highly qualified to teach middle school math (and hopefully Social Studies too by the time I apply or interview.) I have several years experience coaching high school sports too. Any feedback on whether any of those skill sets might be helpful in landing a job?

Thanks in advance for the help.